Orienting in classical conditioning and generalization of the galvanic skin response to words: An overview.

Maltzman, Irving

doi:10.1037/0096-3445.106.2.111

Cited by 113 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…Various components of conditioned behavior may be differentially affected by particular manipulations, as in these experiments. Indeed, some investigators (e.g., Maltzman, 1977) have proposed that conditioning of ORs, for example, may be different from other types of conditioning. Depending on what components of conditioned behavior affect a chosen response measure most heavily, one might make quite different statements about underlying learning processes from the results of conditioning experiments.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of qualitative and quantitative variation in the US on individual components of Pavlovian appetitive conditioned behavior in rats

Holland

1979

Animal Learning & Behavior

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The form of rats' Pavlovian conditioned responses to visual and auditory conditioned stimuli (eSs) paired with a variety of unconditioned stimuli (USs) was examined in three experiments using direct behavioral observation techniques. In Experiment 1, the form of conditioned behavior occurring most frequently during later portions of the es-us interval depended only on which of several appetitive USs was used, but the form of behavior occurring most frequently during early portions of the es-us interval depended only on the nature of the es. US-dependent behaviors resembled the response to the US, and eS-dependent behaviors resembled the original orienting response (OR) to the es. In Experiment 2, the use of larger magnitude appetitive USs resulted in higher frequencies of US-dependent behaviors, but lower frequencies of eS-dependent behaviors in the presence of auditory and visual ess. In Experiment 3, US-dependent conditioned behavior to auditory and visual ess paired with shock was more frequent when high-intensity shocks were used, but eS-dependent behavior was more frequent when low-intensity shocks were used. These results suggested that Pavlovian conditioned responding may involve two independent types of behavior-one appropriate to the US and another based on the original OR to the es.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of qualitative and quantitative variation in the US on individual components of Pavlovian appetitive conditioned behavior in rats

Holland

1979

Animal Learning & Behavior

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“…Early studies of nonperceptual stimulus generalization in humans used semantic stimuli (words) (Branca, 1957;Maltzman, 1977;Razran, 1939). For instance, participants would be conditioned to a word (e.g., PLANT) by pairing the presentation of the word with a US, and then tested on semantically related words (e.g., STEM) or unrelated words (e.g., MUSIC) (Maltzman, Langdon, Pendery, & Wolff, 1977).…”

Section: Semantic Fear Generalizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear Generalization in Humans: Systematic Review and Implications for Anxiety Disorder Research

et al. 2015

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Fear generalization, in which conditioned fear responses generalize or spread to related stimuli, is a defining feature of anxiety disorders. The behavioral consequences of maladaptive fear generalization are that aversive experiences with one stimulus or event may lead one to regard other cues or situations as potential threats that should be avoided, despite variations in physical form. Theoretical and empirical interest in the generalization of conditioned learning dates to the earliest research on classical conditioning in nonhumans. Recently, there has been renewed focus on fear generalization in humans due in part to its explanatory power in characterizing disorders of fear and anxiety. Here, we review existing behavioral and neuroimaging empirical research on the perceptual and non-perceptual (conceptual and symbolic) generalization of fear and avoidance in healthy humans and patients with anxiety disorders. The clinical implications of this research for understanding the etiology and treatment of anxiety is considered and directions for future research described.

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“…Yet, humans frequently acquire information about a salient object that goes beyond its physical details. Thus, in many cases generalization is likely based on other regularities extracted from prior experience, such as the conceptual or semantic properties of a stimulus (Maltzman 1977). While the ability to generalize learning between physically dissimilar objects is not unique to humans (e.g., Honey and Hall 1989;Herrnstein 1990), humans are particularly adept at linking objects together on the basis of conceptual similarity, even in the absence of definable common features (Medin 1989).…”

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confidence: 99%

Conceptual similarity promotes generalization of higher order fear learning

Dunsmoor¹,

White²,

LaBar³

2011

Learn. Mem.

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We tested the hypothesis that conceptual similarity promotes generalization of conditioned fear. Using a sensory preconditioning procedure, three groups of subjects learned an association between two cues that were conceptually similar, unrelated, or mismatched. Next, one of the cues was paired with a shock. The other cue was then reintroduced to test for fear generalization, as measured by the skin conductance response. Results showed enhanced fear generalization that correlated with trait anxiety levels in the group that learned an association between conceptually similar stimuli. These findings suggest that conceptual representations of conditional stimuli influence human fear learning processes.The idea that many fears originate from an association between neutral and aversive stimuli has continued to serve as the basis for influential accounts of human anxiety disorders (Bouton 2002;Mineka and Zinbarg 2006). However, the nexus of many fears defy a straightforward explanation, since following an aversive experience other stimuli that are indirectly related to the experience oftentimes become feared as well. In some cases, generalizing an acquired fear following an emotional learning episode is predicated on an association between stimuli formed before the emotional experience occurred. This form of stimulus generalization is known as sensory preconditioning (SPC) (Brogden 1939;Kimmel 1977;Gewirtz and Davis 2000), and is an important process whereby the representation of a known stimulus is modified following a salient experience with a related stimulus.A typical SPC procedure occurs in three phases: first, subjects learn to associate two neutral cues-for example, a bell and a light. Next, one of the cues, say the light, is associated with a biologically significant unconditioned stimulus (US), which leads to the development of a conditioned response (CR). The bell is called the preconditioned stimulus (PS) and the light is called the conditioned stimulus (CS). Finally, the PS is presented alone. Despite the fact that it has never predicted the US directly, the PS will often elicit a CR, suggesting that an association was formed during preconditioning between the PS and CS. The majority of SPC studies have been conducted in nonhuman animals (Brogden 1939;Rizley and Rescorla 1972). SPC effects have also been reported in a small number of human fear-conditioning experiments (White and Davey 1989;Vansteenwegen et al. 2000), but human research on this topic is very limited relative to experiments using first-order Pavlovian conditioning procedures. Consequently, the features that promote fear generalization between previously associated stimuli are unknown.A well-known factor important for classical conditioning (Rescorla and Furrow 1977) and stimulus generalization overall is similarity to the CS (Pavlov 1927;McLaren and Mackintosh 2002). Classic experiments of stimulus generalization in animals (reviewed in Honig and Urcuioli 1981) have revealed orderly generalization gradients of conditioned responses that tra...

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Orienting in classical conditioning and generalization of the galvanic skin response to words: An overview.

Cited by 113 publications

References 27 publications

The effects of qualitative and quantitative variation in the US on individual components of Pavlovian appetitive conditioned behavior in rats

The effects of qualitative and quantitative variation in the US on individual components of Pavlovian appetitive conditioned behavior in rats

Fear Generalization in Humans: Systematic Review and Implications for Anxiety Disorder Research

Conceptual similarity promotes generalization of higher order fear learning

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